One of the nation's only three Shakers has died, leaving two of them in Maine.

The Shaker community at Sabbathday Lake, Maine, announced that Sister Frances Carr died Monday at home after a brief battle with cancer. She was 89.

Advertisement

A statement said "the end came swiftly and with dignity."The Shakers settled in 1783 at Sabbathday Lake, one of more than a dozen such communities throughout the country at one time or another.

It's now the only such active community.

The Shakers' numbers declined because members are celibate and the group stopped taking orphans like Carr, who arrived as a 10-year-old.But Carr bristled when the group was referred to as the "last Shakers." She remained hopeful that the Sabbathday Lake community would grow.